8-Year-Old Never Ages, Key To Fountain Of Youth?

An 8-year-old who never ages might be a preposterous idea but believe it or not, an American girl has this very unusual condition which prevents her body to develop in a normal rate.

Screengrab of TLC's website

Gabby Williams of Billings, Montana is just 8 years old yet she only weighs 5 kilograms, just like a newborn baby. When her parents realized that she is not growing, they immediately sought medical help and the doctors soon found out that Gabby has a rare disorder, which name is unknown, and the cause and pathophysiology have yet to be discovered. What is certain is that her condition slows her body's development and aging process. This is almost the opposite of Progeria, a genetic disease which presents signs and symptoms of aging at a very early age.

Gabby's parents have been taking care of her as if she is a newborn child specially that her condition has also caused her blindness and inability to speak. According to Medical researcher Richard F Walker who has been studying Gabby’s case for two years, Gabby may have a genetic impairment that hinders the human body’s "developmental inertia." He said that "In some people, something happens to them and the development process is retarded. The rate of change in the body slows and is negligible."

Gabby’s case,  together with a 29-year-old American with the body of a 10-year-old, and a 31-year-old Brazilian woman with a body like a toddler, will be featured on the TLC documentary "40-Year-Old Child, a New Case" to be aired on the 19th of August.

If the mystery of this case will be unveiled, biological immortality might be unlocked as with the words of Dr. Walker: "If we could identify the gene and then at young adulthood we could silence the expression of developmental inertia, find an off-switch, when you do that, there is perfect homeostasis and you are biologically immortal."